For this experience, I took NURS 462 & 472: Community Health Nursing I&II. The purpose of these classes was for me to utilize the nursing process for assessing the pertinent needs of the population. Moreover, while working as a group I had to promote community wellness by educating the public about nutrition and lifestyle changes.
Skills used in this experience:
- influencing individuals to eat healthier and make lifestyle changes to improve health/ manage chronic diseases
- working in a team structure
- planning, organizing, and prioritizing
Template-Med-Testing-10_9-pdf
Above are two examples of work that was created during my experience. I worked with six other students to create medication cards. While volunteering at the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia we discovered that many people did not know what foods could be eaten with their medication as well as how to manage their chronic diseases. We surveyed individuals at a local food pantry and obtained the top three medications and top three chronic diseases that they wanted to learn more about. We also tested our templates to see if they are appealing and if they would be helpful to them.
These courses allowed me to see how social determinants of health affect a community. I learned that there is a huge knowledge deficit in the community when it comes to chronic diseases. I discovered that this is due to providers not providing a lot of education about chronic illnesses, lack of access to necessary items to improve their health, lack of transportation, etc. In the future, when I am a nurse, I can use this knowledge to help my patients find resources that they need. I will also make sure to assess my patient’s understanding about their medical conditions prior to discharging them from the hospital.